Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on global platforms

This unnerving spiritual shockfest from screenwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primeval evil when unknowns become vehicles in a fiendish game. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing saga of struggle and primordial malevolence that will resculpt the horror genre this scare season. Helmed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and moody motion picture follows five characters who regain consciousness confined in a far-off lodge under the hostile command of Kyra, a tormented girl dominated by a time-worn holy text monster. Steel yourself to be immersed by a big screen ride that melds primitive horror with legendary tales, hitting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a time-honored foundation in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is subverted when the presences no longer descend from beyond, but rather inside their minds. This marks the most terrifying corner of all involved. The result is a edge-of-seat psychological battle where the tension becomes a unyielding contest between divinity and wickedness.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five souls find themselves trapped under the ominous dominion and grasp of a elusive being. As the companions becomes powerless to oppose her control, cut off and hunted by creatures unfathomable, they are forced to encounter their greatest panics while the seconds coldly winds toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion rises and relationships implode, forcing each member to contemplate their core and the principle of freedom of choice itself. The hazard amplify with every passing moment, delivering a scare-fueled ride that intertwines spiritual fright with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to channel basic terror, an curse from prehistory, filtering through psychological breaks, and exposing a force that challenges autonomy when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra demanded embodying something beyond human emotion. She is innocent until the haunting manifests, and that turn is bone-chilling because it is so emotional.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be available for digital release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—ensuring users worldwide can enjoy this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its intro video, which has attracted over 100,000 views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, offering the tale to a global viewership.


Make sure to see this soul-jarring exploration of dread. Join *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to witness these evil-rooted truths about the psyche.


For director insights, director cuts, and news directly from production, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit the official movie site.





U.S. horror’s pivotal crossroads: calendar year 2025 American release plan blends old-world possession, indie terrors, alongside returning-series thunder

Moving from survivor-centric dread saturated with old testament echoes as well as legacy revivals set beside surgical indie voices, 2025 appears poised to be the most dimensioned combined with blueprinted year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios are anchoring the year with established lines, in parallel OTT services saturate the fall with new perspectives together with archetypal fear. Across the art-house lane, festival-forward creators is riding the backdraft from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween holding the peak, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are exacting, which means 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige terror resurfaces

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal camp kicks off the frame with a big gambit: a refreshed Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a crisp modern milieu. Led by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. set for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Guided by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

As summer eases, the Warner lot rolls out the capstone of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re boards, and the memorable motifs return: retrograde shiver, trauma as text, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This pass pushes higher, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The continuation widens the legend, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, courting teens and the thirty something base. It arrives in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: Tight funds, wide impact

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror duet anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It reads as sharp positioning. No overinflated mythology. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Long Running Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, steered by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Trends Worth Watching

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror swings back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

What’s Next: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The forthcoming 2026 fright cycle: returning titles, original films, as well as A jammed Calendar aimed at screams

Dek: The new scare season crams immediately with a January bottleneck, after that stretches through summer corridors, and continuing into the year-end corridor, fusing brand heft, novel approaches, and strategic alternatives. Studios and platforms are focusing on mid-range economics, big-screen-first runs, and viral-minded pushes that convert these releases into national conversation.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The genre has solidified as the sturdy play in studio slates, a genre that can expand when it connects and still hedge the exposure when it misses. After the 2023 year signaled to decision-makers that mid-range genre plays can own cultural conversation, the following year extended the rally with auteur-driven buzzy films and word-of-mouth wins. The head of steam moved into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and critical darlings demonstrated there is an opening for many shades, from returning installments to original one-offs that play globally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a programming that reads highly synchronized across the field, with mapped-out bands, a spread of brand names and original hooks, and a renewed commitment on exhibition windows that power the aftermarket on premium home window and SVOD.

Buyers contend the horror lane now operates like a wildcard on the release plan. Horror can arrive on nearly any frame, offer a grabby hook for creative and shorts, and outpace with viewers that arrive on Thursday nights and continue through the sophomore frame if the picture connects. Emerging from a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 cadence underscores belief in that dynamic. The calendar rolls out with a stacked January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for counterweight, while leaving room for a September to October window that flows toward spooky season and into November. The grid also underscores the increasing integration of arthouse labels and home platforms that can nurture a platform play, fuel WOM, and widen at the inflection point.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and classic IP. Big banners are not just mounting another sequel. They are moving to present continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a brandmark that broadcasts a new tone or a star attachment that ties a fresh chapter to a foundational era. At the simultaneously, the visionaries behind the most buzzed-about originals are embracing on-set craft, makeup and prosthetics and grounded locations. That interplay produces 2026 a robust balance of trust and shock, which is why the genre exports well.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount marks the early tempo with two spotlight entries that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the spine, setting it up as both a passing of the torch and a classic-mode character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture signals a nostalgia-forward strategy without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave centered on legacy iconography, first images of characters, and a rollout cadence aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will stress. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will seek wide appeal through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format supporting quick updates to whatever tops pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three separate plays. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is elegant, heartbroken, and premise-first: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that unfolds into a perilous partner. The date sets it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to mirror uncanny live moments and snackable content that threads love and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a final title to become an PR pop closer to the initial promo. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele titles are branded as must-see filmmaker statements, with a minimalist tease and a second trailer wave that shape mood without giving away the concept. The Halloween runway gives the studio room to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has consistently shown that a tactile, hands-on effects method can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror hit that leans into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio sets two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, sustaining a dependable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is calling a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both players and casuals. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign pieces around lore, and creature design, elements that can increase IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by careful craft and linguistic texture, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already locked the day for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is warm.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Digital strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s slate feed copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a sequence that amplifies both initial urgency and sub growth in the later phase. Prime Video will mix licensed content with worldwide entries and brief theater runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library curation, using timely promos, holiday hubs, and staff picks to stretch the tail on the horror cume. Netflix keeps options open about originals and festival buys, slotting horror entries near their drops and elevating as drops rollouts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a dual-phase of targeted theatrical exposure and quick platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown appetite to take on select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to build credibility before the my company streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation builds.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 track with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is uncomplicated: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, elevated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a theatrical-first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the September weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then activating the year-end corridor to open out. That positioning has been successful for arthouse horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using boutique theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subs.

Series vs standalone

By tilt, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on franchise value. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand erosion. The preferred tactic is to sell each entry as a new angle. Paramount is foregrounding character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a continental coloration from a emerging director. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and auteur plays keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the configuration is assuring enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns make sense of the logic. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept streaming intact did not stop a day-date try from working when the brand was strong. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, enables marketing to cross-link entries through relationships and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without long gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The shop talk behind this year’s genre suggest a continued turn toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that elevates atmosphere and fear rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in craft profiles and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta inflection that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature design and production design, which play well in convention floor stunts and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that accent surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that play in premium auditoriums.

Release calendar overview

January is stacked. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid marquee brands. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late Q1 and spring set up the summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now supports his comment is here big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a late-September window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited advance reveals that put concept first.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift card usage.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s digital partner mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss fight to survive on a uninhabited island as the power dynamic shifts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to fear, based on Cronin’s practical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting tale that manipulates the unease of a child’s wobbly perspective. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A satire sequel that teases today’s horror trends and true crime fixations. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a unlucky family tethered to past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survivalist horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: undetermined. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and elemental dread. Rating: undetermined. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026, why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that paused or reshuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming launches. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

There is also the slotting calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can control a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will coexist across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The breakout hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to work those windows. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, audio design, and picture that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.